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Hoři, má panenko (Fireman's Ball)



cast :

Jan Vostrčil, Josef Valnoha, Frantisek Debelka, Josef Řehořek, Josef Šebánek, Vratislav Čermák, Václav Novotný

crew :

Directed by: Miloš Forman
Written by: Miloš Forman, Jaroslav Papoušek, Ivan Passer, Václav Sasek
Produced by: Rudolf Hajek, Carlo Ponti
DOP: Miroslav Ondriček
Editor: Miroslav Hajek
Music Score by: Karel Mareě

release date :

1967

It is a virtual impossibility to purge Eastern European film of the spectre of Communism that lurks, if not in the actual celluloid itself, then in the eye of the beholder. This task is made even harder when, as in the case of Miloš Forman's black comedy 'Fireman's Ball' (1967), the film in question was made in Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Prague Spring of 1968 and was even banned on anti-authoritarian grounds by the Communist government. Nevertheless, to watch Forman's treatise on human inadequacy and see nothing but Stalin in disguise is to overlook a masterful and witty examination of Czech society.


'Fireman's Ball' follows the course of a community gathering held in honour of the elderly chairman of the local fire department, who is apparently dying of cancer. The focus of the proceedings is to be a beauty contest using young girls picked out from the crowd, a raffle, and the presentation of an engraved axe to the chairman. The ineptitude of the group of ageing firemen in charge of organising the ball is matched only by the frivolous immorality of the revellers attending it, and all the planned events quickly descend into chaos. When the contestants in the beauty pageant are too embarrassed to get on stage a barn-yard style chase breaks out in an attempt to round them up, which is then forgotten with the news that a nearby house is on fire. The firemen fail to extinguish it and the whole congregation gathers as the building is reduced to cinders. When they eventually return to the hall most of the raffle prizes have been stolen, as has the commemorative axe.


The most instantly striking thing about 'Fireman's Ball' is how unsettlingly realistic it seems. Forman's use of naturalistic lighting and non-professional actors lends an almost amateur or home-movie quality to it, which is supported by the roaming camera and cluttered mise-en-scene. This adds plausibility to both the characters and setting, making the whole ball almost unbearably parochial and unglamorous, which is what a large part of the film's humour is derived from. This is especially true of the storyline concerning the quest for a beauty queen, whereby the old firemen trawl through the crowds of pointedly unattractive women completely, unabashed of their own lechery. The camera doggedly follows their progress, effectively taking on the role of an honorary juror; when the old men go up to the balcony to get a better view of the girls' cleavage the camera dutifully follows them and participates in their inspections. As the camera trawls through the throng of merrymakers and occasionally singles out individual faces, the concept of the young women in question entering a beauty contest becomes increasingly absurd and as such the tone becomes mocking and cruel. With the camera taking on the role of a fellow onlooker, the ugliness of the people it judges ridicules both the girls themselves and the old men ogling them.


This savage portrayal of Czech people, especially young Czechs, is the defining characteristic of Forman's works made in his native country and can be traced as far back as his graduation film 'Audition' (1963), in which Forman filmed a number of genuine performances by teenage girls who believed they were auditioning to be singers in a rock band, then selected the most humiliating and edited them together. Though this approach may seem unduly aggressive, it is nevertheless effective precisely because it manages to touch a truthful nerve, and in his previous films 'Black Peter' (1934) and 'Loves of a Blond' (1965) Forman had shown profound insight into the awkwardness of youth. With the microcosm of 'Fireman's Ball' he targets Czech society as a whole, lovingly yet ruthlessly illustrating its inadequacies and illogical reasoning. This critical self-evaluation is in itself typical of both Czech film and literature, notable for their lack of heroic protagonists, and in which the main character is generally either weak-willed or ineffectual, and often with questionable moral standards. This has often been attributed to a Czech national trauma at having been subjugated by so many different regimes and a shared feeling of impotence at not being able to defend themselves or their culture.


Whilst this may not be immediately obvious in 'Fireman's Ball', this theory bears some significance to the film's treatment of the issue of authority. Often understood simply as a satirical allusion to the Communist government, the council of bumbling firemen represent the ball's authority figures in so far as they are its organisers and have some slighted elevated social standing as members of a community institution. Fundamentally incapable of either doing their jobs or preventing mayhem from breaking out, as well as being patently self-serving, they lend themselves well to a comparison with almost any unpopular governing body. The fact of their advanced years implies that their positions are not attributable to merit but more to a stagnating status quo in which the citizens are not sufficiently inspired to replace them with more efficient members. The crucial element which parallels the Communist authorities, and the council of geriatric fire-fighters is their illogical reasoning. Perhaps the best illustration of this lies in their argument at the end of the film after one of their leading figures is caught trying to replace one of the raffle prizes, which had previously been stolen by his wife. Despite being the single noble act of the entire narrative, it plunges the firemen into panic about how to restore the damage caused to the brigade's honour, which, in the words of one member “means more to me than any honesty”. Similarly, when trying to decide a fair way to compensate the people who bought raffle tickets but did not steal the prizes whilst punishing the those that did steal but didn't buy tickets, it is argued that anyone who didn't steal effectively lost the lottery by not seizing an opportunity which others did.


This badly reasoned prioritisation of appearances over the well-being of those affected is one of the crucial criticisms of Communism, but it can also be seen as specific to Czech mentality as a whole when examined in consideration of the people's response to it, which is predominantly one of adolescent rebellion; the party goers take every opportunity to run riot, brawling, storming the stage and treating the fire as a spectacle with someone even setting up a bar. Their most defiant act takes place when the lights are turned off with the intention of allowing the thieves of the raffle prizes to return their spoils anonymously. When the lights are turned back on however, not only have the missing items not been replaced but the little that remained has also been taken. This flippant and amoral reaction to shoddy leadership indicates that the people have learnt to capitalise on the distracted nature of those in charge for their own benefit rather than to push for productive change. Such an attitude in turn suggests that the stultification of the leadership has been long-standing, something particularly pertinent in a country which only had true self-rule for less than two decades in over four centuries. This argument also bears more weight than that maintaining the strict anti-Communist reading, as 'Fireman's Ball' was made during a censorial thaw and it if was truly intended as counterpropaganda would be unlikely depict the ordinary citizens in such a condemnatory fashion.


This also relates to the significance of banality with the film. As previously mentioned, the prevailing aesthetic is notably dirty, out-dated and generally mundane. The hall being used for the ball is tackily decorated, and every frame is littered with hundreds of half-finished beer tankards. The raffle prizes are as Eastern European as they are undesirable and mediocre, including items such as a pig's head, more beer and some porcelain figurines of farmers. The décor, lighting and characters all combine to produce a perfectly dire image of a small town, instantly recognisable to anyone who has ever lived in one. This is a common trait in Czech film, which has a strong tradition of concentrating on small people in small villages, something that can be found in 'New Wave' films such as Vojtech Jasný's 'Všichní dobří rodaci' (All My Good Countrymen, 1968) as well as in modern works like 'Divoké Včely' (Wild Bees, 2001). Again, this could be attributed to a national inferiority complex caused by the country's prolonged subjugation by large empires, but it also serves as the basis of Czech black comedy, of which 'Fireman's Ball' is a prime example.


Whether the origin of these factors lies in history or politics, the result of combining parochial mundaneness and ruthless humour is unmistakably Czech. It may well have developed as a strategy of dealing with oppression or simply be indicative of a inherent national tendency towards defiance and recklessness, but in any case 'Fireman's Ball' does not need to be understood as anything except a highly amusing, if somewhat cruel, reflection of a society that is proud of its ridiculousness and is not afraid to revel in its own banality.


Watch


Country: Italy/Czech Republic
Budget: £
Length: 71mins


Filmography:
'Audition (Ôdishon)', 1999, Takashi Miike, AFDF
'Black Peter', 1964, Milos Forman, Filmové Studio Barrandov
'Loves of a Blonde', 1965, Milos Forman, CBK
'All My Good Countrymen (Všichní dobří rodaci)', 1968, Vojtech Jasný, Filmové Studio Barrandov
'Wild Bees (Divoké Včely)', 2001, Bohdan Sláma, Ceská Televize


Pub/2008


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